


Save My Soul

by Queen_Kit



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Guardian Angels, Don’t copy to another site, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-26
Updated: 2014-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-09 06:29:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 11,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17996693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queen_Kit/pseuds/Queen_Kit
Summary: *this story is being moved here from my DeviantArt account.Frank Archer goes through life not knowing he has a Guardian Angel looking over his shoulder.  Unfortunately for this young angel on her first assignment, there is someone else tampering with her power and his fate.  Can she save him, or is he destined to become what canon dictates for him.





	1. Prologue: Guardian’s First Watch

**Author's Note:**

> This was written using versions of FMA characters and OCs that my friend's RP'd  
> Most/All of these blogs have been dropped. This was posted in 2014 to Deviantart and at that time this was the information
> 
> Eirny Lund is my OC - Tumblr morethanfree  
> Frank Archer - Tumblr notevengreedcanstopme  
> Lady Avarice - Genderswap Greed - Tumblr crimsonandcarbon  
> Male!Lust - tumblr face-your-devil  
> Avara's Alpha - An AU GreedLing - Tumblr whataroyalpain

To any human eye newly promoted Corporal Frank Archer appeared to be completely alone in the office as he awaited his superior’s arrival this morning.  However Frank Archer was in fact not alone while he was sitting there alone for the first time in many days.  A young woman with glittering pixie-like wings sat on the edge of desk a few feet in front of his seat examining him with serious dark green eyes.

She wasn’t the first to be offered this job, in fact if the situation hadn’t been so unusual she wouldn’t have been offered a watch like this at all.  The problem in the case of Frank Archer was that his previous guardian had given up on him.  Given that man’s propensity for knowing a hopeless case years before it was apparent to anyone else the rest of the more senior guardians had refused to take on the watch.

Honestly the whole thing didn’t make any sense to her.  How could anyone know that someone wouldn’t reach their best potential without trying?  It was the job of guardian class angels to watch and guide humans of special potential to the path of their best fate.  Couldn’t it be the abandonment that led them to fail to reach that fate?

Her feet swung silently in the air and her wings fluttered as she watched the man organize his notes.  Archer’s face was mostly calm as he ran through the explanations of the report for his superior in his mind.  His mind was sharply focused and he was dedicated to his work and his goals and she could see his potential path spread out before him.  He had the potential to be truly great; however his path often strayed into darkness.

That was why she was being given the opportunity to turn down the assignment.  A path as dangerous as his wasn’t the typical assignment for a first watch; however he was the only human currently in need of a guardian.  If she wanted to graduate the academy she had to take on a watch and succeed, or at the very least be able to prove that she had done everything in her power if it failed.  However she was determined to succeed.

She slipped off the desk, walking closer to observe him, long brown hair swaying behind her.  The man was nearly as pale as the papers he held with sharp icy blue eyes and brown hair so dark it could almost pass for black in the right light.  In the few days she had been watching him she had observed him to be cordial to most people if not genuine and most of the time his smile, when he did smile, was tight lipped and faintly smug.  He was proud to the point of arrogance at times, but he did have the potential to become truly great, to become Fuhrer.

She didn’t care what the rest of them thought.  There was just something about him.  She was convinced that he could make it…  _with a_  little bit of help.

Her mind made up she strode around behind him, placing a hand on either shoulder.  He shivered almost as if he could feel the touch despite the separation of their worlds.  She could touch him, see him, hear him… but her presence was completely outside of his senses.  A world away and yet less than a step from the world in which they had once all been born…

“I think it will be a pleasure working with you Corporal Archer.”  She said quietly despite the fact that the man couldn’t hear a word she said.  “I’m Eirny, and I’ll be your Guardian Angel.”


	2. According to Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It all started out so well

It seemed like only a blink of an eye since he had been sitting in his superior’s office a newly promoted as corporal determined to continue climbing.  He had nearly been discouraged, his progress having slowed for a time, but now here he was a Lieutenant Colonel.  Those slow years had passed and his ascension in the ranks had been assured by his hard work and dedication.

He smiled faintly as he walked down the hall, nodding politely as he passed other officers.

Once he had realized where the faults lay it had been easy to correct them.  He had worked to improve his friendly relations with those around him in order to better their perception of him.  Not to mention pouring even more of his time into his work until it was nearly flawless.  Looking beyond his outward presentations one might find flaws, but he presented himself well enough that few cared to look deeper.

A smug smile started to creep onto his face, but recalling where he was he managed to subdue it in favor of something more acceptable.  Sometimes he almost felt as if there was a voice in his ear… just a little nudge or reminder here to make sure he didn’t forget his behavior.  Sometimes it was a nudge in the right direction in his work.  He was quite proud of his intuition these days.

As he arrived at his superior’s office and knocked on the door he coached his expression to something properly attentive, concealing the disdain he felt for the man.  His work was barely passable and without Frank’s dedication the office would have been a complete mess.  He only hoped that those superior to that moron would see the work for who it really came from.  There was a sharp rebuke in his mind as he felt the expression slipping onto his face that he should be concealing and he schooled his face again before opening the door at the call to enter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For her part Eirny’s work ethic was much the same as Archer’s.  She worked the same long hours watching over him and giving him a little nudge here and there.  She was quite proud of her work actually.  She knew she had managed to surpass expectations lasting as long as she had with the assignment.  However it had been as much a surprise to her as to anyone else when the governor superseded his council’s judgment, graduating her from the academy quite a few years earlier than expected.

And so she was quite pleased herself as she fluttered after him through the door, barely able to keep her feet on the ground this once.  To have guided Frank this far and done well enough to get recognition like that was exciting… even if her guardian seemed more concerned over the matter.  Although Avara seemed to express concern over anything in which the governor himself was involved.  Eirny knew there was some history there, but she didn’t pry into the details.

For a moment her mind wandered, drifting through memories…

Avara and her husband Alpha, both with raven black feathered wings, had been kind enough to take her in when she first arrived in Lorlea.  The woman had been scanning the new arrivals to see if any of them caught her attention and for some reason known only to her had settled on Eirny.  Over time Eirny had learned that it was quite unusual for a family to foster an angel of a different wing, however Avara was a bit evasive with her answer.  She claimed it was because Eirny had looked particularly lost and she had found it cute.  Then she had changed the subject, grinning as she remarked that it was the first year she didn’t have an excuse to piss the governor off by not fostering a new angel.

It was Avara who had explained to her where she was and what that meant, dragging her past a line of rather disapproving government approved educators on the way out of the arrivals building.  Lorlea was a place “a world and a breath away” from the world of the living.  To have arrived there it meant that Eirny had died, although like many arrivals she couldn’t remember anything about her life before she got there.

She hadn’t really been sure how to feel about it.  Knowing she had a life before that she didn’t remember, but Avara didn’t really allow her room to dwell on it.  Instead the crimson eyed woman had jumped into an explanation about Lorlea.  The world was parallel but separate from the world of the living.  Angels could see, hear, and touch the living, but the living could sense nothing of them. However they could influence the world and humans in little ways.

It was those who had this ability who came to Lorlea after death.  Some angels who came here had an especially strong calling with an ability to influence humans more strongly and it was these who could become guardian class angels.  Avara herself had been a guardian angel before having apparently quit – or been fired and thrown out – sometime after the last Governor’s Election. (Which if Eirny understood properly had been some one hundred years before)  Avara wasn’t exactly clear on the details and it sounded as if it might have been a bit of both.

The stated mission of the people of Lorlea was to guide humanity to their best path and reaching their highest potential.  Although that was another area in which Eirny’s foster family seemed to disagree with the government’s statements.   Avara knew the governor, an old acquaintance of some kind, and she said that he was always working for his own agenda.  From which Eirny gathered that helping humanity wasn’t something that would really be on the Governor’s to do list.

So knowing the man in the shadows, the governor was rarely seen these days, Avara and Alpha refused to trust anything he was involved in.  The government and its goals were looked at with suspicion and she wasn’t about to trust her foster to any of the government sponsored education programs.   So Eirny had been homeschooled to learn about their world and abilities until they realized she had the calling.

Avara really wasn’t happy about that, not because she had any problem with the ability, but because she hated the idea of sending Eirny to the Academy.  The problem was that Eirny really wanted to learn and try to help despite everything Avara warned… and in order to get there, to become a full Guardian Angel she would have to graduate from the Academy.  Eirny wasn’t about to give up the chance and Avara, having taught her to work for what she wanted until she had it, couldn’t find it in her to stop her.

And that had gotten Eirny to where she was today.

She shook those thoughts off, gathering her attention back to her work just in time to give Frank a sharp reminder to mind his expression before he opened the door to go into the office.  If he could just keep himself composed through this, an excited smile appeared on her face, then he would really start on the path to success.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Really, sir?”  He coached his expression to one of mild surprise.  “And you would consider me for such a position?”

“No need to be modest now.”  The man let out a rather irritating laugh.  “Not really any choice to consider it or not.” He blustered, “The word was passed down to me from above.  It looks like you’re on you’ll be taking over the investigations department.”

Frank nodded, a slightly smug smile just starting to slide into place.

_“Not now.” Eirny rebuked quietly placing a hand on Frank’s shoulder.  She still wasn’t entirely certain why this approach worked with Frank, after all he couldn’t hear or feel her, but it did and that was what mattered._

His face softened back to the faintly surprised smile he had been wearing.  “I suppose I can’t turn an opportunity like that down.  It is an honor to have been chosen.”  His eyes flicked quickly to the officer standing behind his superior’s chair.  The man was obviously aware of who really did the work here.  Frank could tell by the way his superior kept feeling the need to look worriedly at the other man.  It appeared his superior’s lackluster work hadn’t gone unnoticed and he was trying to make himself look better by acting as if he had more influence of Frank’s work than he did.

“Yes of course my boy.”

_The hand on Frank’s shoulder tightened its grip slightly as her eyes narrowed in irritation at the officer at the desk before them._

It took everything Frank had to keep himself at check at that remark.  He was no one’s boy, let alone this man’s.  His eyes narrowed just slightly, but he managed to keep himself in check for the most part. Although his smile might have turned just a hair more forced.

“I’ll be sure to give my best work.”  He said with a small nod.

The officer behind his superior responded before the other man could, giving the blustery imbecile an acidic look.  Obviously he wasn’t fooled by the man’s attempts to prove his competence.  “We’ll expect to see you settled into your new position within the next week then Lieutenant-Colonel.”

“Yes sir.”

 “You are dismissed.”

Frank nodded, standing from his chair, snapping off a crisp salute before turning and leaving.   Once he reached the now empty hall, the smug smile that had been threatening to appear on his face all along appeared.   Nearly everything was going perfectly these days.

~

As Frank left the offices to go to his apartment and pack Eirny flitted after him, her feet once more unable to touch the floor.  Everything was going according to plan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the governor’s mansion of Lorlea Lust smirked, observing the scene on one of the many monitors that lined the room.   He swirled the wine around in his glass feeling quite pleased with himself.  It hadn’t taken much to get the youngest guardian to take on Frank Archer to keep the man going in the right direction.  Everything was going exactly according to plan.

“Your move, sister crow.”  He said quietly, taking a sip from his glass.  She wasn’t going to be able to keep him from the chaos he wanted forever.  They had been going at this game quite long enough, carefully moving their pawns into place trying to keep the other at bay.  Some might think his sister’s devotion to disrupting his plans to be some play towards humanity’s best interests, but he knew her better than that.

He took another sip of wine.  Avara’s only goal was to make sure that he didn’t get what he wanted.  A sinister smile curled on his face.  After all he had taken nearly everything from the woman who always got what she wanted.  Avarice that knew no bounds wanted revenge for what it had lost.

And he would do everything in his power to keep her from getting what she desired while he achieved his own goals.  Selfish perhaps but in a land of ‘Angels’ they knew their sins.


	3. Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frank loses his guiding force. She's forced to look on as his fate starts to turn.

Everything had been going so well until he took over investigations.  Eirny’s hands clenched into fists.  Now she felt helpless watching as Frank strayed farther and farther from his path.  She never stopped following him and she never stopped trying to get through to him, but somehow it just seemed to stop working.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Frank stood in the run down underground complex of the Devil’s Nest bar, a smug smile on his face as he spoke. “Welcome, Crimson Alchemist, Zolf J. Kimblee.  As well as the Sewing Life Alchemist, Shou Tucker.”

“I’ve kept my end of the promise.  Now for you…”  Kimblee frowned, looking a bit suspicious of the situation.  However he wouldn’t be here if he didn’t think that Frank would keep his end of the bargain.

_Eirny didn’t like Kimblee but there wasn’t a thing she could do about it.  Nothing could sway Frank from his course now and he had chosen to work with the man…_

“I know.”  Tucker seemed a bit nervous, that thin lipped smirk never left Frank’s face even as he tried to relieve the man turned chimera’s concerns, “There’s nothing to be afraid of.  I will secure your safety, or my name isn’t Frank Archer.”

_“No no no no no…. Frank please you’re going the wrong way.” Her wings fluttered anxiously, lifting her feet from the ground.  Why?  Why didn’t he respond anymore?_

“S-safety?”

“That’s right.  You are going to return to the military and continue your research directly beneath me.”   It was a dream come true… the opportunity to have these two men working for him.  With that destructive force at his command who would be able to stand in his way?

“I can continue my research?”

“Yes.”  He turned to the soldiers standing behind him.  “Change of mission directives. Show no mercy to anyone who opposes us. Eliminate any troublemakers who are infesting this bar”

_“Stop him!  Someone stop him!”  She didn’t know if it would work but she tried anyway._

“B-but, are you sure we should?”

“I don’t care.

_“Frank Please….”_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What did you do to them?”  She slid through the window into the governor’s office without a care, her voice cold.

“I just wanted to give your star pupil a challenge.”  Lust smirked as he turned his head just enough to see her where she stood behind him.

“That’s not a challenge that’s nearly a death sentence and you know it.”  She hissed.

“It’s not as if it can’t be reversed.”  He said, waving his hand absently at the monitor where he was observing the current situation.  “It’s a simple thing really.  You could teach her.”

Avara growled at his suggestion and Lust’s lips curled into a cruel smile.  “What?  Does the almighty Avarice not know how to counter a simple influence lock?”

“You’re a rotten bastard.”

“It’s not my fault that a home-schooled bumpkin wouldn’t know how to reverse a little something like this.”  He shook his head, his face a mockery of sorrow, “After all it’s one of the fundamental lessons of my education program.  If you had let her attend none of this would be happening.”

Before he could even move her hand was at his throat, carbon coating it to the elbow, her nails transformed into sharp claws.  “Remove it now.”

“Never.”  He smirked maliciously.  “It’s your job to take care of your own pawns, sister crow.  If she gets hurt it’s no one’s fault but your own.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eirny knelt beside Frank’s bed, watching him sleep.  She should have left for home hours ago, but she didn’t want to go.  She was worried about him to the point where she was on the verge of tears.

“Why don’t you listen to me anymore?” Her voice cracked as she begged for answers from a man who couldn’t even hear her.   She had asked Avara for any suggestions but the woman had had little to offer.  All she would say was that maybe it was time for Eirny to let it go.  It was too far gone to be saved.  She had done all she could…

She kept warning Eirny that she was getting too close.  They were supposed to maintain a proper working distance from their watch.  But how was she meant to do that when he needed so much help and she needed to try everything to get it to him..?

“You need to take a step back be careful… please…”

It wasn’t enough.  She couldn’t accept it ending like this. She put a hand on his shoulder but he didn’t shift at all.

“Please… Can’t you see where this is going?”

But of course he couldn’t… he was only human.


	4. Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “If it goes badly you’ll have to take responsibility for it.”  
> “I know… but I have to try.”

_‘So this is it_.’  He thought dimly as he saw the red light rapidly approaching.

He didn’t know what exactly it was, only that it seemed to be the end as he watched the other men disappear before his eyes.  Even if he survived his career would be in shambles.

 _How could this be happening?_ He had been doing everything right.  He had been _promoted_.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_This couldn’t be it._

Time seemed to stretch into an eternity as she watched that dangerous red light spreading.  For once she started to wonder if this ability was a curse.  To spend so much longer watching something come that she couldn’t change.

_He was doing so well.  He had stumbled badly, but he could do so much more._

Never until he had come to work in investigations had she felt so keenly the distance between their worlds.  Before that just this extended time she was given would have been enough to save him.  All she needed was enough time to tell him to move, to go, and he would have been able to get himself away, but now… There was no such luxury now.

 “Run, please,” She begged, placing her hand on his shoulder, “You have to move now.”

When she had started watching Frank there had been such an easy connection, a comfortable almost friendship despite the fact that he didn’t even know she was there.   She had been so happy at his evident pride in her work, his ‘intuition’.  Sometimes she had almost been sure he had sensed her around him somehow… but these days.  In the empty rooms and corridors when she would follow him through his work his head never once twisted with that little frown as if he thought something were there anymore.

Watching the red light coming slowly but surely closer she just wanted so badly to reach out and just make it  _stop_.  In some small corner of her mind she almost believed that she could have done it, wanting it as much as she did, she could have saved him.  However the rest of her mind knew the truth, it was impossible to effect the world that way.

All she could do not was try to give him enough luck to have a chance to make it through this.  So that was what she did.  She gave him every ounce of luck she could find to try and get him through this with his life and she was still afraid that it wasn’t going to be enough.

“Don’t you dare give up on me now, Frank.”  She whispered, focusing everything she had on her desire for him to  _live,_  “We’ve come too far to give up now.”

Time resumed its natural course and the wave of light swept up to them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He had been so pleased at the idea of getting a taste of battle serving his country when he started this. Now it seemed it was going to be over before it even began. He started to turn away, but he knew he would never manage to outrun this oncoming death.

 _‘It should have been so much more_.’  His mind raged helplessly,  _‘It wasn’t supposed to end this way!’_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eirny’s legs collapsed under her.  It was over…  He was alive, just barely, but she wasn’t sure how he could remain that way much longer.  She wasn’t sure what she wanted more to cry or to vomit given the injury he sustained.  In the end tears won out as she kept her rebelling stomach under control.

She had to do something, she had to fix this.   _If she could just-_

 “Eirny,” The young woman’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her name as a hand landed on her shoulder.  However he eyes never strayed from her charge.

 _There had to be_ something _…_  There was a thought just out of reach and if she could only catch it she just knew she could fix this.  He would be  _fine_.

The hand on Eirny’s shoulder guided her gently but firmly to turn away from the man who lay near dying beside her.   Green eyes now found themselves looking into red eyes under inky black hair.

“I’m busy Avara…”  Her voice shook as much as her hands and she forced the tears to stop falling.  She tried to turn back to her duty, her responsibility,  ~~her failure~~.  She could fix this somehow, she  _had_ to-

There was a soft growl and suddenly it was two hands that held her gently, but firmly in place facing the other woman.

 “It’s time to let it go.  There are some humans that nothing can be done for and you just have to let them go.”

“It’s not like that.  If I can just-” She huffed, frustrated.  She didn’t know what it was but as long as he was alive she just knew she could fix this.  “I know he’ll manage,  _he can do it_.”  She wasn’t ready to give up on Colonel Archer just yet.

The dark haired woman sighed, pulling the younger guardian into a hug.  “You’ve gotten too close to your work.”  Truth be told Avara was  _very_ worried.  The new arrival she had taken on out of curiosity had become something like family, a younger sister or almost daughter, living with Avara and her husband Alpha.  She didn’t want anything bad to happen to the young woman.

“Avara please,” Eirny gave Avara a pleading look, “Please I know I can do this.”

“You know you might just make things worse for him now.”  She shook her head slowly, “It could be better to let him go now.”

Eirny stared back stubbornly.  “You’re the one who told me that if I wanted something I needed to work at it until I had it.”  And she wanted him to succeed, badly.  To prove to everyone that Frank Archer was a man who could achieve the greatness he was meant for even if the others had given up on him already.

“If it goes badly you’ll have to take responsibility for it.”

“I know… but I have to try.”


	5. Repercussions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   
> “Why? What’s happened to me?”

She hadn’t left his side since she made her decision.

She had done her best getting someone there to save him.  
Every ounce of luck she could find and more.  
She gave it everything she could give.

**_She hadn’t intended it to turn out like this_ **

Guilt and horror warred for dominance in her mind as tears slipped down her face.  All she could do now why try to ease the pain he was surely experiencing.

_“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first thing he felt when he opened his eyes was confusion.  He had been certain he was going to die.  He couldn’t recall if there was anyone close enough to help him out of there, and he wasn’t sure that anyone would have wanted to help him either.  Surely they would have been too busy saving themselves.

But here he was clearly alive.

There  _was_  something different.  He couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was at the moment and he wasn’t even certain if it mattered.  So long as he was alive he still had a chance somehow, didn’t he?

He wasn’t certain what it was that called his attention to the space beside him, his head turning almost before he realized to look at the chair sitting beside the bed he was laying on.  He found himself confused once again as he saw who it was that was sitting in the chair.  It was a young woman.  She didn’t appear to be any kind of a doctor, her clothing –what he could see of it - was all wrong for the profession.

Neither did he recognize her as someone with whom he had even a passing acquaintance.  He couldn’t make out her face, as she was leaning forward with it in her hands, but he was certain he wouldn’t have forgotten someone like her.  He didn’t typically forget anyone whom he had met in passing, details filed away in his meticulous mind for future reference if they became relevant.

Long brown hair spilled over the young woman’s slender shoulders; from what he could see he presumed that were she standing it likely lay past her waist.  Her skin was a bit darker than most of the people in this area.  Too pale to be Ishvalan (although he supposed that was evident enough given the color of her hair); it was more of a light olive.  Given her position it was difficult to make out some details, but she was obviously slim, probably not much shorter than he was.

And all of that still didn’t spark any recognition so he was baffled as to why she would be sitting beside his hospital bed of all places.  Not that he  _minded_ really, hospitals didn’t typical have a decent view and he hadn’t made all that many friends.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he continued to watch her.  Staring might be rude, however it didn’t appear she had even realized she was being observed yet.  Her shoulders were shaking as if she was crying, and crying rather hard at that and yet there wasn’t a sound.   The way she seemed to shudder as she took a breath… surely there should be some sound?

He would have thought he was deaf if it weren’t for the machines he could hear beeping elsewhere in the room.

It was then that his eyes finally seemed to catch the faint glimmer behind her.  She appeared to have  _wings_.  And not just some ridiculous costume piece; real wings that moved and shifted behind her of their own power.

He realized distantly that this must be some sort of hallucination.

He had thought he was dying and now he imagined he saw an angel by his side now that he was alive.  It was a bit of a shame really.  He wouldn’t have minded such pleasant company.  However even if this was an angel or something and not a hallucination caused by a probably brain injury, why would she be crying?  Clearly if she were there she must have helped him and should be happy to see him alive.

It was then that she shifted abruptly.  She raised her head and he found himself staring into deep green eyes.  If this  _were_ a hallucination… wouldn’t his mind have conjured something based off of someone he had known?  He had never seen anyone like her before.

Her lips mouthed words that he couldn’t hear, sorrow and guilt etched onto her face as tears continued to slide silently down.  < _I’m sorry. > Her_ eyes scanned down his body and she seemed to shake harder. < _I’m so sorry. >_

His brow furrowed.

“ _Why_?”   He didn’t even realize that he had said the word aloud, his eyes following her gaze.  Suddenly he knew exactly why something had felt different.  His eyes darted back up to the girl.  His mind was racing with questions.

He looked straight at the girl, meeting her eyes as he spoke.   “ _What’s happened to me_?”

This turned even stranger again then.  This young woman, hallucination, angel, whatever she was looked shocked, frightened even, that she was being addressed.  She stood so quickly he had half expected to see the chair fall, but it didn’t even shift.  Then the young woman darted away and as she exited the door his world exploded into pain.

As he started screaming there was no more room to think of hallucinatory angels anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She covered her ears against his screams, a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach as it twisted with guilt.  It was her fault… she had failed him.  He was in this pain because of her.

And he could see her.

He was still screaming, but she forced herself to move her hands down.  Her heart pounded rapidly as she peeked around the door, watching the men – mad doctors – who had rushed in at his screams rush around him.

He had seen her.  Her hands were shaking and not just because of the screams.  That wasn’t possible.  He couldn’t see her.  They were worlds apart.

The doctors scrambled around him, doing whatever it was that they felt they needed to do… Twisted things.  She wasn’t sure how he could stand it.  The pain surely would be enough to make anyone lose their mind.  And it was her fault.

She was frightened, but she couldn’t just leave him.  She couldn’t allow him to always be in such pain.  However if she didn’t come home then Avara would come and what would she say?

Eirny leaned her head against the doorframe, cringing as his screams changed pitch with each further agony.  What was she supposed to do now?


	6. Refusing Dismissal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Fine. Do what you will, but you should give up while you can.”

It was hours later that the screaming finally stopped.  Eirny cautiously crept into the room to check on Frank, staying behind him where she would be out of sight just in case.  Maybe it was just a fluke after the near death experience…

\-----------------------------------------------------------

Frank found himself laughing; half crazed - perhaps more - with pain when the doctor’s left.  They didn’t think that he could do it; no one thought that he could do it, but he would prove them wrong.  He would be  _great_.  He would be better than great.  He may never be able to become Fuhrer like this, but if he couldn’t be Fuhrer he would be the best soldier there was.  He would help to unite this continent as a killing machine.  What else was he alive for like this?

 “I know you’re there.”  He chuckled a bit again, still on the edge of madness even as the pain receded.  “Since I woke the only time the pain’s gone this much was when you were here.”

He really must be insane to be talking to a hallucination when he couldn’t even see it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She nearly turned and ran again when he started talking.  She had been trying to ease his pain again, and with that perhaps ease her own guilt... For all that he sounded like he had lost his mind he had certainly put that much together quickly.  That she was the reason his pain went away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You should just go.” He continued talking, not caring if he really was insane anymore.  “If you’re some kind of angel or something, where I’m going is hell.”  His voice was hoarse at least the bits that didn’t just sound mechanical.  “I’m going mad.  There’s nothing left for the Angels here.”  He laughed again.

She appeared over him then.  Frank could see clearly the hesitation mixed with concern on her face and he grinned madly.  “There you are.”

She took a half step back, clearly afraid.

“Just run.  There’s nothing to be brave for.”

He couldn’t stop himself laughing again as those green eyes suddenly turned hard and stubborn.  He couldn’t hear a sound but he was just able to read what she said off her lips.

_< I’m not going anywhere until this is over.>_

Until what was over Frank wasn’t certain.  It probably didn’t even matter.

“Fine.  Do what you will, but you should give up while you can.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eirny didn’t leave his side until he was asleep, and even then it was with great reluctance.  She could see the pain in his face even as he slept, but she needed to go home for at least a little while.  She wanted to gather some supplies at least.  For all she had done she wasn’t going to leave his side again.  This was her responsibility.

She exchanged quiet words with Avara explaining only that she needed to go.  What she had done… She wouldn’t walk away from this responsibility.  She promised that she would come back when this was all over.  She didn’t know when that would be, but until the end she would stay with him.

She hugged Avara tightly before she left.  A bad feeling lingering that she may well not see her Mentor and friend again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It didn’t matter what Frank did or said, the angel never quite seemed to leave and fluttering back quickly just before the pain became too much for him to bear.  He was grateful for her aid in that way.  Without her his mind might have been farther gone than he knew it to be with his injury.  It might have taken him longer to be able to recover if he ever did.

Now he was recovered and striding into war.  He would defend central with everything he had and then they would unite the continent.  Despite what it would mean he found himself screaming at her in the moments when he was alone.  Demanding that she leave because she didn’t belong in a place like this.  Whatever she was, she wasn’t built for the war he intended to wage.

Hallucination or not he wasn’t going to drag her down into hell with him.

However while she shrunk back and shook sometimes as he screamed she never left.  She stood there resolutely, a look on her face that he couldn’t understand.  Like she thought she deserved this.

It didn’t make any sense.  But he supposed that was just more evidence of his madness.


	7. Taboo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Angel, have mercy and seal my fate.”

The house had been burning when he arrived… It was too late.  He was too late.  The killing machine had failed its master, but still he tried to take down the man who did it.  Rebels…  He had felt the shots go through him and what was left of his body failed him.  He couldn’t see her but he was sure she was there, for all he had been through the pain was too little for her not to be.

_I told you to leave me…_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“No… no no no no no….”  Eirny collapsed to the ground next to his body, sobs wracking her form.  “It wasn’t supposed to end like this… not like this…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everything was black and he sat in the middle of it laughing like a madman…  After everything he had been through everything he had done it ended like  _this._  He had failed, lost everything that he had been working towards.  He hadn’t even gotten to really taste war.  Everything had crumbled around him.

As the laughter started to subside he started cursing.  Everything for nothing.   _Nothing_.

He wondered if this was hell.  All the pain that had been held back consumed him and there was nothing around him.  Nothing left for him.  Everything was over now certainly?

He started laughing maniacally again as the pain receded.  It wasn’t done yet?  What could she want from him now in  _hell_?

 “What are you doing here?”

She just looked at him silent and sad… always silent, but always there.   _< I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.>_

Apologizing again… he still didn’t know what she was apologizing for.  Maybe she had thought she could fix this.

“Whatever it is you’re sorry for it’s far too late now.”

She took a hesitant half step towards him, her expression filled with concern.  _< You… my job…>_

She was speaking more quickly.  He couldn’t read all the words off her lips.  Her job?  Was she meant to try and redeem him?  She was set up to fail from the start if that was the case.  “Did you really think you could save my soul?”  He laughed bitterly.  “It’s too late, I’m dead and this is hell.”

She looked shaken and something like apologetic.

“Or maybe you were an angel of death all along?  If so why don’t you just end this now?  Send me wherever I’m going and be done with me.”

She took a step towards him and he started laughing crazily again.

“Angel, have mercy and seal my fate.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Where is she?”  Avara stormed into the parliament building, her question really more of a demand for information.

The clerk at the desk cowered away from Avara, but it wasn’t like they didn’t know who she was talking about.  “You’ll have to see the governor.  He’s already tried her case.”

Her eyes widening just slightly Avara swiftly walked around the desk and towards the stairs ignoring the clerk’s shouts that she would need an appointment.  When she arrived at his office she threw the door

“What have you done to her?”

The raven haired man sitting behind the desk, with his feet propped upon it didn’t even seem fazed.  He just stayed where he was buffing his nails on his shirt.

“God damn it Lust,” She slammed her hands down on the desks leaving dents in the solid wood, “if you don’t answer me I promise you’re going to remember why you took me off assignments.”

Red eyes looked up at her with a lazy smile.  “You should know yourself shouldn’t you?”  He stood and stretched.  “Your little sparrow broke the taboo, sister crow.  Tomorrow turned back months and months…”  He shook his head a shark-like grin on his face.  “So we clipped her wings.”

“Where did you put her?”  She growled, carbon coating starting to spread up her arms.

“The game is over Avarice.”  He turned his back to the irate woman.  “You lost.”

“Where?” When she growled her question this time it sounded more animal than human.

“That’s none of your concern.”  Turning abruptly he gave her a casual wave and strode out the door.  “Checkmate.”

Avara growled again, but he was already gone.  “Not quite yet.”

With the taboo broken the board had been reset and her pawn was two steps closer to the other side of the board… 


	8. Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was a dream? Yes. Only a dream.

Frank Archer shot up in bed, gasping for air.  His eyes darted around the room, stopping and widening in shock as he looked in the mirror. He was himself, no automail.  Shaking he looked around his room taking in the familiar surroundings.

It was a dream?  Yes.  Only a dream.

He lay back in bed doing his best to banish the nightmare and visions of an ‘angel’ in all that chaos.  It was only a dream.  It wasn’t going to happen…

Although – a smile stole across his face - the Colonel part had been nice…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been over a month and Frank still couldn’t escape the creeping sense of dread.  He had tried to forget the nightmare, but it was impossible.  After the death of Brigadier-General Hughs and his move to the man’s office things just kept coming that were the same.  Nearly every moment of his day was déjà vu.

He was proud of the recognition that he had received, but it was making him almost paranoid.  He was waking from nightmares nearly every night now.  Soon he was sure it was going to affect his work and he couldn’t stand the thought of that.

How was he supposed to do this?  If that nightmare had been a warning how was he meant to change things so that he didn’t wind up as that…  _thing_  this time.  Surely there must be a way to change it so that he could continue to rise and see himself as Fuhrer one day.

The more he thought of it the more his stomach twisted with unwanted fear.  He could hardly even manage to drink his tea now.

He had finally taken some time away from his desk after receiving his latest assignment and been overtaken by the sense of dread knowing where it was going to lead him… If this followed the same pattern as everything else he was going to meet Kimblee here.  That was, he thought, perhaps where everything had gone so terribly wrong.  Where he had passed the point of no return.

He continued walking down the street lost in his own thoughts.  How could he save himself?  He found himself glancing to the side again.  He had been doing that a lot recently.  It was a fool’s reflex searching for a hallucination out of a dream.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that she could have the answers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was almost funny.  Avara thought as she trailed after the military man from a distance.  Just how lost he seemed without her pupil guiding him this time around.  Last time he had been so self assured that he had hardly noticed the absence.  Then again when Eirny had broken the taboo and thrown his soul back to that moment, well… When you had the memories of the world spiraling away dancing at the edges of your consciousness all the time that was bound to change things.

Lust could ignore the pieces’ new position on the board as much as he liked, thinking he had her at checkmate and that she had lost her king.  However Avara was going to take advantage of it.  If she could just find her pupil… her pawn… and guide her to the other side of the board well.

A grin stole over her face as she saw a familiar face among the crowd on the other side of the street.

Then the Pawn could become a Queen.

“Well what do you know…”  She swiftly caught up to the military man and tapped his right left shoulder.  “You’re just looking the wrong way this time.”


	9. For the First Time Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Well it’s a pleasure to meet you then Lieutenant-Colonel.”

Frank wasn’t certain exactly what it was that pulled him out of his thoughts and planning.  He should be using every moment he had to figure out how to change things, but there was something.  He glanced around left and right but it wasn’t as if there was someone there.  He frowned, he was certain he had felt a tap on his shoulder…

Before his mind could delve too far into figuring out that new mystery something else caught his attention.  A snatch of conversation carried on the wind to his ear, a voice that seemed vaguely familiar but impossible to place.   There was another phantom tap on his shoulder, the left this time he was sure of it.  And like he had done in his younger years he followed this bizarre sense of intuition.  It hadn’t steered him wrong before, he had to hope it wouldn’t do so again.

He kept walking through the crowd, making his way in the direction that the voice must have come from.  Following it as well as he could, nearly running into people in his haste he mumbled apologies under his breath as a near constant litany until he caught that voice on the wind again.

“It’s suspicious if you ask me.”  The young woman’s voice was insisting.  “I think they’re hiding something.”

“You’re being ridiculous.”  There was another young woman’s voice in reply now.  He must be getting close to the source.  “All these conspiracy theories are going to rot your brain if they don’t get you arrested first for ridiculous accusations.”

They were finally coming into view, blond hair whipped back and forth as its owner shook her head.  “You’ve got enough to worry about what with trying to remember after your accident.  Don’t go looking for trouble.”  The voices owner stopped speaking taking a sip from the drink in her hand.

It wasn’t her… if he could just get around this person to see who she was talking to…  The person finally moved and he had a view clear through.

“You don’t have to say it like that.”

It was her.  For a moment Frank felt like he stopped breathing.  Long brown hair and olive skin, and as she glared across at the other young woman he could see those same dark green eyes.  Then the moment was past and it felt like all of the tension he had been feeling since he woke up from that nightmare vanished.  She was real, a hallucination in a dream and she was real.  He just managed to keep down an almost hysterical burble of laughter at the ridiculousness of it all.

This was different.  She hadn’t been real before and here she was.  Somehow she would have the answers…

He stumbled suddenly as someone ran into him without so much as an apology and soon found himself face down on the sidewalk.  It was a bit humiliating really and he could hear worried voices rising around him.  Some even seeming frightened at having seen a military officer knocked over like this.  Times were changing at the people tensed at any sign of potential trouble.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few feet away from the commotion Avara giggled as Alpha joined her.  “What are you doing here?”

He gave her a rakish grin.  “Just passing by and noticed my lovely lady standing here all alone.”  He directed a sharp nearly suspicious glance at the military man he had so unceremoniously run over as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “Happened to bump into someone.”  Her Alpha had a special talent.  Not many could do that do the living. 

“Paranoid.”  She huffed with a pleased smile.  “But that works out better for me.”

She kissed him on the cheek, one eye still on the youngest member of their little pack.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 “Are you alright?”  The crowd had mostly cleared around him, and it seemed that only one person was brave enough.  The young woman with the dark green eyes crouched next to him with an achingly familiar look of concern on her face.

“I’m fine-” He just held himself off from adding the word angel at the end.  He never had learned the young woman’s name in his dreams…  She offered a hand to help him up and Frank gratefully accepted it.  “Although I believe I’m going to be a bit sore later.”  He added as he dusted off his uniform.

“Well that’s good.”  The young woman smiled.  “So long as nothing’s broken I think everything’s alright here.”

This was the first time he could recall ever seeing a smile on her face and he found that he liked it. He rebuked himself after a moment, realizing he was stating.

“Indeed.”  He coughed slightly to cover his discomfort, the light pink staining his cheeks gave it away however and he cursed his pale complexion.  “Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Archer, at your service.”  He found a small honest smile appearing on his face as well.  “And quite grateful for your assistance, miss..?”  He trailed off, leaving an open inquiry for her name.

“Eirny…”  It seemed it was the young woman’s turn to stare now, looking intently at his face.  “Have I met you before?”

Her friend groaned rolling her eyes.  “If you think he’s hot I’m telling you that’s the worst pickup line  _ever_ … Also hello we have places to be.”  The blonde said in a rather loud stage whisper.

Neither Eirny nor Archer had any mind to acknowledge her however and she just started grumbling to herself under her breath about something or the other they were going to be late for.

“I’m afraid I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure,” he said with a warm smile, “but I’ve been having the strangest sense of déjà vu.”

The young woman’s friend seemed to choke on the coffee she had just taken a sip of.  “You have to be fucking kidding me.”

He was certain by now that her friend likely thought they were both insane, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.  Somewhere in the back of his mind however he was grateful that the earlier crowd had disbursed.

“Well it’s a pleasure to meet you then Lieutenant-Colonel.”  She said, holding her hand out to him again, this time for a handshake.

He took her hand, holding it in his own for perhaps just a moment too long after the handshake.  “A pleasure to meet you as well, Eirny.”  He was glad for his own sake that he managed to stop himself from asking her to call him Frank when they had just met, but his smile remained.  He had a very good feeling that things would be different this time around.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was a smug smirk on Avara’s face as she watched the meeting from her place in Alpha’s arms.

“It looks like the pawn’s nearly on the other side of the board now.”  Avara rolled her eyes, “If you’re as stuck on chess references as  _He_  is.”  The fact that such references were slipping into her own thoughts and speech was another thing to dislike Lust for; unlike him she actually  _cared_  about the young woman he had dragged into the middle of everything.  She was a part of her new pack…

Avara’s eyes narrowed.  She wasn’t going to lose her pack again because of that man.

“I’m sure you’ll beat him this time.”  Her Alpha said with a grin, then his stomach rumbled.  “Hey you wanna go eat?”

Avara smiled and turned just enough to leave a lingering kiss on his lips.  “You always have the best ideas.”  And distractions when it was necessary.  Sometimes their usual headlong rush into things wasn’t the route that they needed to take.  At times like that distraction was a necessary substitute for patience.

He just grinned more.  “I think you might have better ones.”

And with that the two Angels vanished.  Making the best of the time they needed to wait.


	10. They Come in Pairs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AN: Cute and Shippy ahead captain

Frank smiled as he heard the knock on his door.  He could already tell who it was even before she spoke.

“Can I come in?”

“Of course.”  The warm smile stayed on his face as he watched the door open and she stepped inside.

Since that chance meeting on the street Frank and Eirny had started talking quite a bit.  He enjoyed the conversations enough that he had even made it a point to try and take ten or fifteen minutes out of his workday to meet her at the coffee-shop not far from his office for tea.  He found a private delight in the discovery that she enjoyed the beverage as much as he did.

The young woman was clearly intelligent and the “conspiracy theories” that her friend had been so worried about were more often than not dead on for the truth.  She had the same wary feelings about something terrible coming and vague recollections of things that hadn’t happened yet.

It was more than enough evidence for Frank that she  _was_  the young woman from his dreams, however she didn’t seem to have anything of the same sort… What she did have however was a complete case of amnesia after waking in the street on the same morning as he had woken with his nightmares.

Although after another bizarre incident where a street crossing nearly sent Frank to the hospital she was recovering from that as well…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a pleasant sunny day and Frank had been quite relieved to get out of the office.  The meeting he had been in ran longer than he expected and he had been afraid he wasn’t going to be able to make his next  _appointment_  for the day.  Some people might have considered it a date of sorts, but having never asked Eirny for anything of the sort he wasn’t about to presume.

In a bit of a hurry now to make it to the coffee-shop, he hadn’t quite looked both ways before he stopped out into the street.   It was quite unlike him to be so careless, but he didn’t even realize his error until he heard the honk of the car’s horn and her shout from the other side of the street.

His eyes had widened and he had been prepared to get run over when he felt himself flung back out of the way by an invisible force.  When he got to his feet again and looked across he saw Eirny standing there frozen.  Her arms were still flung out in his direction as if she had attempted to push him even from that far away and her eyes were wide.

He heard some people starting to talk around them as the strange occurrence didn’t go unnoticed.  It took him a minute longer to actually make it across the street and by then at least she had dropped her arms even if she was still standing there.  The girl had remained unresponsive as he called a cab and brought her to his apartment.

The whole ride there he had tried to do what he could to get any response or calm her.  It was only after that he realized that he always said he was bringing her home.  Not his apartment or to his place, he was bringing her home.

It had still been another hour… endless minutes ticking by before she had come out of whatever was happening in her head.  He had been quite startled as she wrapped him in a hug, shaking and crying.  She had only said one thing to him.  “I died.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After that day their conversations had drifted at times to her stories about her life before.  She had been so relieved when Frank believed her.  How could he not?  He had died as well, and he knew her as his angel.  As for the other unbelievable part of her life, magic and genies…  After she saved his life that day he wasn’t about to dismiss those either.  He actually hoped one day when she was more comfortable with her ability again that she might even be able to use it to help his department…

He blinked bringing himself back to the present, the warm smile that he had been wearing having never left his face despite where his thoughts had wandered.

“What brings you to my office today?”  He raised his eyebrows slightly.  She did like to visit but she usually didn’t come without some sort of task as well.

“There are some files here.”  She was frowning, her brow furrowed in confusion. “There’s one that’s important and I was wondering if you would mind me looking for it.  There’s something in there…”  She huffed in frustration; it was somewhat cute really…  “I just wish I could just remember what it was.”

“Just try to relax I’m sure it will come to you eventually.”  He replied with a calm smile.  “You’re free to look through the files I have to find what you need.”

He almost laughed at her expression of surprise at how quickly he allowed her access to files that should be confidential.   “I know I can trust you.”

She gave him a short nod and a bright smile and then she started searching his shelves for what it was that she needed to find.  For his part Frank just sipped his tea and continued with what he had been doing before.  She would speak with him when she was ready and he had no need to monitor her or stop her unless one of his superiors was to come by.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was the quiet curse that had made Frank look up from his work.  When he saw the cause he was out of his chair before he even really had a chance to think about it, rushing over just in time to catch her.  The ladder crashed to the other side as he stumbled back landing on his ass on the floor with her on top of him… It was more than a little awkward when rather than standing she turned around while sitting on him to thank him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Thank you.”  Her voice was quiet.  She had found the file, but when the ladder had started shaking suddenly she had dropped it on the floor where it had landed a couple feet away from her current position.  “Are you alright?”

He nodded and seemed to swallow.  Pink dusted her cheeks as she realized exactly how awkward a position she had put them in without thinking, but she couldn’t convince herself to move either.  Instead she just sat there staring for a long moment.

_If she wanted there was nothing stopping her now._

What..?  She wasn’t sure where that thought came from…

_There weren’t any rules… if they were both alive…_

She found herself moving then without much conscious thought, caution thrown to the wind.

_She could…_

She brought her lips to his, kissing him softly.

She started to pull back after a long moment, her heart pounding wildly.  She wasn’t entirely certain why she had done what she just did… but she didn’t regret it.

Frank’s arms wrapped around her, pulling her back to him before she had gotten very far… and she found she didn’t mind that either.

It wasn’t very long before the file was forgotten where it lay.  The office’s two inhabitants becoming wrapped up in a rather different investigation.


	11. Broken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flashback time

_If they were both alive…_

**_~Flashback~_ **

The last thing she remembered was sinking to her knees beside his body, but when she looked up again she was in dark place.  Everything was black and in front of her she could just make out Frank’s form.  To her shock he looked to be whole again, human, but he was laughing like a madman still.

_What are you doing here?”_

“I’m sorry.  I’m so sorry.”  She couldn’t bring herself to move, just staring at him and trying not to cry.

_“Whatever it is you’re sorry for it’s far too late now.”_

She took a hesitant half step towards him.  She didn’t like seeing him like this.  He still seemed half mad.  If this was death then why hadn’t that madness let him go?  She just wanted to explain before he went wherever his soul must be going.

“It’s you I’m sorry about.”  She spoke more quickly than she realized, “It was my job to protect you to help you and I messed up.  I failed.  It’s my fault this happened to you.”

It was obvious from the look on his face that he didn’t understand her.

 _“Did you really think you could save my soul?”_ He laughed bitterly, and she nearly stepped back from him. _“It’s too late, I’m dead and this is hell.”_

She knew that.  She knew it was over now.  She had messed up and this was all her fault…

_“Or maybe you were an angel of death all along?  If so why don’t you just end this now?  Send me wherever I’m going and be done with me.”_

No.  How could he believe that?  She had been by his side for so long, everything she had done and it was ending like this.  She didn’t want this.  She didn’t want to lose him after failing him like this.  She took a step forward possessed by the sudden determination to do  _something_  and fix this.  One way or another.  She would give him everything she had in her if she could just make this right.

He was laughing like a madman again.   _“Angel, have mercy and seal my fate.”_

She wasn’t about to let it end like this.  She strode forward wrapping her arms around the man as he laughed and laughed… He might not be able to touch her, his hand passing through her like a ghost the moment he tried, but she could touch him.

She pressed a kiss to his cheek, ignoring everything in her screaming that even if she could do what she was trying to do here she was going to be punished for going against everything that they were meant to do.

 _With a kiss_  
I turn back time  
To help restore  
Your Heart  
And mind

She poured everything she had into that one wish.  Turn it back, go back to before everything spiraled out of control and went wrong.  Send him back and let him remember.  Remember and make better choices.  She didn’t think she could be with him this time.  But she had faith in him.

There was a bright flash of light…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She was more than a little surprised when she woke up.  She was still in that dark place.  She tried to lift herself to find a way out, but she didn’t have the strength to move.

A door opened across from her, unable to lift her head she only knew it from the sound and the sudden light that caused her to squint.  Well polished black shoes carried their wearer closer to her, the footsteps tapping crisply on the black floor.

“You shouldn’t have done that.”  The man’s voice was vaguely familiar.  She thought she had heard it before.  “You just couldn’t quit while you were ahead could you?” The man sighed, leaning down to grab the front of her shirt.  He pulled her up to face him.  It was the governor.

“Turning back time. Falling in  _love_  with a human.” Lust tsked, shaking his head.  “That’s taboo.  Didn’t my sister ever teach you that one?”

In love..?  She was in love with Frank..?  He must have read her confusion on her face and he laughed at her.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t know?”

Eirny remained quiet and after waiting a long moment he seemed rather put out that she didn’t have any energy left in her for a response.

“Do you have anything to say for yourself?”  He said with an irritated scowl.

She just looked at him a bit dully and unresisting.  Even had she realized fully about the taboo at the time it wouldn’t have stopped her from doing it again.  And as it was now, hopefully Frank had a chance.

“Very well.”  He threw her to the ground and then knelt beside her.  “You know there’s a certain punishment we have for those who would break the taboo.”

She whimpered quietly as he tugged at her wings harshly, pulling them out away from her body.

“I’m afraid they’ll have to go.”  He sighed.  “And you had been so  _useful_.”

She found she had enough energy to scream then.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was a smug look on his face as he left the room.  It was empty aside from a little souvenir he had left there to show his sister.  Avarice’s little pet was gone.

Poor little thing, no memory in the middle of the city.  He laughed darkly.  He hoped she got run over and put herself out of his misery.

Now all he had to do was wait for his pawns to follow their path as before and let the world fall into chaos.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As silence settled over the office, she remembered.


	12. I Remember You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Finale  
> “I promise things will end differently.”

“I remember…”  The quiet words cut though the silence that had settled over the office as the occupants tried to make themselves presentable again.

Frank glanced over at Eirny and smiled slightly seeing her still trying to neaten her hair.

“Remember what?” He asked with a thoughtful hum.

She glanced over towards him, her hands falling as she gave up fixing her hair giving it up as an impossible task.  “You could see me.”

His hands stilled in the process of re-buttoning his uniform, a more intent look appearing on his face.  “What?”

She clasped her hands in front of her, but not before Frank could make out the fact that they were shaking a little.

“You had barely gotten out alive no matter what I tried.”  Her voice was shaking as much as her hands had been.  “Maybe I should have let you die because it would have hurt less.”  The knuckles of her hands turned white as she gripped harder trying to keep the shaking at bay.  “But after all that you could  _see_ me.”

He stopped what he was doing entirely, leaving his uniform half buttoned to walk over to her.  “Eirny…”  His concern was evident in his tone.

“ _Fourteen years_ I had been there watching you.  Doing everything I could to help you and guide you, not only because it was my job but because I really thought you could do it.  Then you got that last promotion and you stopped reacting to anything.”  She was speaking to him, but as the words spilled out it was as if at the same time he was barely there to her at all.  “And I couldn’t fix it so I failed and you nearly died and  _then_ , then you could see me.  When I had left you like that.”

He wrapped his arms around her tightly.  “Eirny it’s alright.”

She still didn’t seem to hear him; he sighed and just kept holding her.  She never seemed to hear anything when her mind was like this.  He had seen it well enough the other times she remembered.  It had been more awkward at first, but she had been by him to hell and back again so it was the least he could do to be there for her.  Even when she didn’t recall that much…  Although now it looked like she had been with him much longer than he had thought.

“I did everything I could for you and it still wasn’t enough.”

He held her tightly.  That day when he had just been promoted to Corporal… it was the first time in years he had felt something there.  After that his intuition had sharpened and things had improved.   She was a guide.  He supposed it made sense now why she had always been apologizing.

“It’s alright.  I remember as well.  Things are different this time.”

She didn’t speak again, but he thought she might have relaxed just a little.  He could feel a damp spot growing on his uniform as she cried but he didn’t care for the moment.  He held her a little tighter, his face determined.

“I promise things will end differently.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Avara smirked, watching the couple from her seat on Lust’s desk as she slid the final piece into place, “ ** _Check Mate._** ”

Lieutenant-Colonel Archer was now quite firmly out of his grasp.  Lust looked more than a little put out because of that.  Or perhaps because his little trick with the ladder had turned out  _quite_ differently than he had hoped.

Lust stood with a growl, knocking the chess board and its red and black stone pieces across the room.

“We’ll see about that.”  His intentions were clear.  He was going to go hunt them both down and kill them.  He never was a very good loser.

“I don’t think so.”  Avara growled, carbon coating rising up over her body as far as her neck the time as she leapt, suddenly pinning Lust to the wall.  “I think it’s time we had another election.”

With a flash of angry crimson eyes she rather unceremoniously plunged her hand into his chest and pulled out his heart.

“No one touches my pack.”

She let him drop to the floor, his body soon vanishing into ash as his soul continued its journey onto its final destination.  She didn’t even have to wipe the blood off her arm as it quickly flaked to ash as well.  She paused only once before leaving his office at the doorway to a room painted completely black.  In the middle of that room a pair of blood splattered pixie-wings still glimmered faintly where they were pinned to the floor by the knife that had severed them.

She turned away abruptly, long inky locks swaying behind her as she left the room.

She might have been able to let him live, but he just had to make it  _personal_.

She didn’t have a care as she left the building to return to her alpha.  They would keep an eye on their pack, no matter what would they dwelt in.  The rest of LorLea could take care of itself.  She was never going to lose her pack to that man again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this for myself and for my good friends. I know it doesn't involve many canon characters and mostly it's side characters, but I hope maybe someone else will enjoy this too. Even if it's self-indulgent or some such.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure if I ever put them anywhere but this was based off of some lyrics I was writing at the time for these characters.


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